Would cancelling and applying new credit card affect my credit score?

It is important to pay off all your credit cards on time

having multiple credit cards should not affect your credit score.

Hi I'm not really an expert in this field but based on my knowledge about credit scores (I have been trying to maintain perfect score of 1911 - 2000 (AA)).

Firstly, having multiple cards does not directly affect your credit score if NONE of the cards have outstanding balance (which means you paid off every card every month). However, if you have multiple applications for credit card within a short period of time (abt 6 month) your credit score may drop TEMPORARY due to 'too many enquires'.

I feel that you can go ahead and apply for the DBS card first. If the application fails, they will send you a mailer informing you the reason and you can also check your credit score on credit bureau website.

After you get your DBS card, you can try to 'clean' up your wallet by cancelling those unused cards.

If you are talking about HDB loans in 3 years time its more than enough to start building up your credit score now.